Improved hame tug and buckle



'UNITED STATESPATENT @tinten LAW'RENGE W. HEELAN, OF PETERSBURG,ILLINOIS.

IMPRVED HANIE TUG AND BUCKLE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 57,899, dated September1l, 1866.

LAN, of Petersburg, in the county ot' Menard and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new Haine Tug and Buckle; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing` is a full and clearudescription thereof, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference markedthereon.

Figure l of the drawings is a plan of the improved hame tug and buckle.Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section, bisecting the tug and buckle. Fig. 3is a bottom plan of the tug. Fig. 4 is a plan of the buckle.

This invention relates, rst, to the construction of the tug and themanner of attaching it to the hame, secondly, to the buckle, by means ofwhich the trace is attached to the tug; and, thirdly, to mode offastening the buckle to the tug.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my improved haine tugand buckle, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the tug, the forward end of which terminates in a hook, a, by meansof which it is to be att-ached to the hanne. (Not shown.) A ring orring-bolt, such as is usually employed for this purpose, is to beattached to the hame, and into the said ring or its equivalent theaforesaid hook a is to be inserted.

The usual device hitherto in common use for this purpose has been ametalstrap formed into a loop for the reception of the llame-rin g, andthence conducted back toward the trace, which was embraced between thetwo ends of the looped strap aforesaid, and the two parts of the strapwere attached firmly to the trace by means of rivets passing' throughboth the metal strap and the leather trace. This form of constructionwas often very disadvantageous, especially owing to breakages that wereliable to occur in the trace at or near the back end of the metal strap,and to repair which damages it was lnecessary to cut out the riveting ofthe trace and tug above alluded to, preparatory to the reuniting' of thesevered parts. In this operation the metal straps were sometimesdestroyed, and had to be replaced by new ones.

A more cheap, expeditious, and, in fact, beautiful mode of attaching thetug to the hameis by means of the hook a above described. This hook isconnected with the tug proper by a curved necking, a', which is curvedoutwardly, so as .to embrace the shoulder of a fullbreasted horsewithout touching or chafin g it, even though no safe be used; but thesafe B may, if desired, be riveted to the inside of the tug.

The buckle C is a metallic piece, constructed as shown in the drawings,and employed for the purpose of attaching the trace to the tug in lieuof the ordinary buckle used for that purpose. lThe back end of thisbuckle-piece has a loop, o, through which the trace is drawn, and theresecured by sewing.

`In the old method the trace was perforated with holes for thebuckle-tongue, and as there were several of these holes7 the trace wascorrespondingly weakened by them in proportion to their number. Afterthe buckle had been used in one hole for along time the trace was sothoroughly set in its bent position as to very often defy every effortto release it from the buckle, in order to lengthen or to `shorten thetrace, or to remove it for any purpose. It' the trace could, even withsome difficulty, be unloosed from the buckle, the strength ot' thematerial of the trace at the old bend in the buckle-seat would be verymaterially impaired by the long-continued bending it had received. Allot' these difficulties are remedied by the present invention, as thetrace is permanently fastened to the buckle by means ofits loop c, andthelengthening, shortening, or removal of the trace is accomplished bysimply changing the relative positions of the buckle and the tug; and asbot-h of these pieces are metal they are not liable to change of formfrom permanent set by any strain they are ever liable to receive.

There is a lug, c', projecting from and attached to the bottom side ofthe buckle-piece. The top part of this lug, or that part of it which iscontiguous to the buekleplate C, may be flat, square, or any rectangularform of section; but its bottom part, c2, should be' widened out into acylindrical form ot' flange. There is a spring, c3, fastened to the topor outside of the buckle-piece, and this spring is turned at c, so as topass perpendiculariy through the plate G, through a mortise cut therein,and the end of the spring will extend beyond the back side of the plateC a quarter ot'an inch, more or less. A portion ot' this spring mar beraised up or formed into a kind of handle, as at c5, for the purpose ot'opening or detaching the said spring, as will be hereinafter described.

There are circular mortises a2 eut through the tug at regular intervals,and a slot, c3, is cut in thesame piece a quarter of an inch, more orless, behind each of the. said niortises a2. The bottom side of thetug-piece is rabbeted out on each side of the slots a3 suffi ciently toreceive the anged part c2 of the lug c1.

When the buckle is to be attached to the tug, the lug c Will be insertedinto the circular mortise c2, and then slipped back into the slot a3, inwhich last-named position the aforesaid tlanges c2 will enter therahbeting prepared to receive them, and there hold against the bottompart of the tug-plate. When in this position the end 'of the spring c3which extends through and back ot' the buckle-plate G will enter themortise a4 cut through the tug-plate, and so hold the buckle from movingforward in its aforesaid slotted seat,-and thereby prevent the bucklefrom becoming disengaged from its fastening to the tug.

Then it is desired to change the position of the buckle, or to remove itfrom the tug, it can be easily done by seizing the spring at c, andraising it up, so as to disengage its lower end fromits hold in itslnortise a4, when the lug may be moved forward, so as to per mit it torise through the mortise a2.

By using the c'ountersiuking or rabbeting along the sides of the slotsc3 the end ot' the lug c may be -kept Hush with the bottom side ofthetug-piece, and this then will present a smooth surface next thev horse;and in this shape this improved tug can be used Without any safe-strapintervening between'it and the horse, Without cha-fing the animal.

The other portions of the harness may be attached to the loops a: x onthe back end of the tug-piece.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The tug A, whenconstructed With the necking a', hook a, and mortises a2, a3, and at,substantially as described.

2. The buckle C and its spring c3, when constructed and employedsubstantially as herein described and set forth.

3. The combination of the tug A and the buckle C, for the purpose ot'attaching the trace of a harness to the hame thereof, sub stantially asherein described and set forth.

' L. W. HEELAN.

Witnesses:

M. RANDOLPH, S. M. RANDOLPH.

